By Amos Tauna
Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, has described the recent attack on its members in Kaduna, northwest Nigeria as frightening to the Union members across the country, signaling that the attacks on media are not going to abate soon.
lt observes that the attack on journalists in Kaduna on Sunday by politicians was a signal that they were bent on nothing but to destroy the Fourth Estate of the Realm in Nigeria.
The National Secretary of NUJ, Shuaibu Usman Leman, in a statement issued to newsmen expressed the Union’s dismay that political thugs sponsored by some dangerously reckless members of a political party invaded the Press Centre, venue of a Press briefing by some APC members of the National Assembly and attacked both Journalists and politicians, destroying media equipment and inflicting bodily harm on some Journalists.
“We regret to note that Kaduna is ingloriously attaining notoriety as the deadliest state for Journalists in Nigeria to operate with harassment of Journalists and increased repression of press freedom.
“As professionals whose responsibility is to monitor governance and hold government accountable to the masses, Journalists now live in perpetual fear of being arrested by security operatives or attacked by faceless assailants without any just cause.
“It is worth noting that press freedom is key to achieving credible democracy and this freedom includes the right to seek and receive information from all available sources to enable formulation of proper opinions to whomsoever one desires and to do so through whichever means it is feasible to communicate. Such attacks we believe are meant to curtail such freedoms,” the statement explained.
In the light of these unabated attacks and intimidation on Journalists, the statement observed, “We call once more on the Police and other Agents of the State, to immediately prioritize issues of security and safety of Journalists not only in Kaduna State but throughout the country as critical components of their programs.”
